Woll makes 33 saves, Maple Leafs shut out Devils

TORONTO -- Joseph Woll made 33 saves for his first shutout of the season, and the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the New Jersey Devils 4-0 at Scotiabank Arena on Tuesday.

It was Woll's third NHL shutout and his first since Nov. 20, 2024.

“I felt good. I always judge it on my process, how well I do my job and let go of things I can’t control,” Woll said. “I thought I did a good job of that, and typically when I do a good job of that, it’s a good result. So, I’m happy with my process.”

Bobby McMann and Nicolas Roy each had a goal and an assist, and Nicholas Robertson had two assists for the Maple Leafs (18-15-6), who are 3-0-1 in their past four games.

Toronto played without captain Auston Matthews, who is day to day with a lower-body injury he sustained while blocking a shot with his foot in a 3-2 overtime loss to the Detroit Red Wings on Sunday. Forward William Nylander (lower body) and defenseman Chris Tanev (lower body) also did not play.

“Everyone was doing their job, goaltender was really good. Just all around pretty solid hockey by everybody,” Toronto coach Craig Berube said. “That’s the one thing I take from it, everybody bought in.”

Jacob Markstrom made 26 saves for the Devils (20-17-2), who are 0-3-1 in their past four games.

“We need some guys that are going to show a little bit more,” New Jersey coach Sheldon Keefe said. “If you're not going to score, give us a little bit more competitively and physically and show that you're working to find your way."

Woll kept it scoreless at 12:23 of the first period when he stopped a point-blank shot in the slot from Ondrej Palat, who one-timed a pass from Jack Hughes, who was behind the net.

“Just feeling the puck early is nice,” Woll said. “Any time you get shots early and make big saves early, I think that definitely helps you get engaged and get in the game."

The Maple Leafs then went ahead 1-0 at 14:21 of the first while on a power play. Robertson gloved down a clearing attempt at the blue line and passed across to McMann, who scored blocker side from the high slot.

Roy made it 2-0 at 14:24 of the second period, scoring one second after a power play expired. McMann's redirection of Robertson's pass was going wide of the net, but Roy was at the right post to tap it in past Markstrom's left pad.

“We’re shooting the puck a little bit more,” McMann said. “At 5-on-5 we are shooting a little bit more, and I think that translates a little bit on the power play. To score, you’ve got to shoot it, so it’s got to get inside, and we’ve been trying to push into the middle as much as we can.”

Calle Jarnkrok pushed the lead to 3-0 at 6:35 of the third period with a shot from the slot that deflected in off Jonas Siegenthaler.

The goal came 13 seconds after a fight involving Matthew Knies and Nico Hischier.

"Listen, do I want our captain and one of our best players fighting when we're down 2-0 in the third period? Absolutely not,” Keefe said. “But do we need some guys to step up and show some emotion and show some [courage] and play with some urgency and competitiveness and step out of character? Yeah, we need more of that. I like that Nico did it, and hopefully it rubs off on the rest of the group in a positive way. Your captain is out there taking on a big guy, stepping out of character. We'll see what we have.”

Knies shot into an empty net at 17:01 for the 4-0 final. It was his third straight game with a goal.

“Everyone showed up tonight,” Woll said. “We did a great job of stepping up regardless of who is in the lineup. Great team win all around. Unbelievable third period by us shutting them down. A great fight by Knies, Robertson had a great game, and the defense was really strong in front of me.”

McMann said the team wanted to ensure they played sound defensive hockey late in the third period to preserve the shutout for Woll.

“You do the old try not to say it, don’t think about it too much, but definitely in the last couple of minutes you’re like, let’s shut this down for Woll because he was stellar all night,” McMann said. “He made some massive highlight-reel saves on his back wherever he was. We were definitely trying to protect (the shutout) at the end.”

NOTE: Berube said Matthews was “fairly close” to playing and is hoping he can get on the ice Wednesday for practice.